Pressed-steel wheel



D. H. BELLAMORE PRESSED STEEL WHEEL Filed Aug. 22, 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 %1 l? mic 014mg Oct. 27, 1925- D. H. BELLAMORE PRESSED STEEL WHEEL Filed Aug. 22, 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 27, 1925.

D. H. BELLAMORE PRESSED STEEL WHEEL Filed Aug. 22, 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Oct. 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,558,458 PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID E. BELLAMORE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE STEEL WHEEL COR- PORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

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Application filed August 22, 1919. Serial No. 319,091.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID H. BELLA- MORE, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in the city of New York, bor

ough of Manhattan, county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Pressed-Steel Wheel, of which th following is a specification.

This invention relates to pressed steel vehicle wheels and the foremost objects of the invention, though not exclusive ones, may be enumerated as follows: first, to obtain a pressed steel wheel which will fit the hub of an ordinary wooden wheel, whereby the wooden wheel may be slipped from its hub and the pressed steel wheel of this invention positioned on said hub and bolted in place; second, to provide a pressed steel wheel which willbe lighter for the same strength than any steel wheel now in use; third, to

provide a steel wheel which will bedevoid' of the drumming effect which is prevalent to a marked degree in all steel wheels now in use; fourth, to provide a pressed steel wheel which will embody radial resiliency, all prior steel wheels being entirely lacking in this quality; fifth, to provide a wheel of the character described which will be more aesthetic in appearance and devoid of the full moon effect of prior steel wheels;

sixth, to provide a steel wheel embodying a main disc extending from the hub to the rim and a reinforcing disc of much smaller size, whereby the weight of the wheel is minimized and that portion of the main disc which extends beyond the outer periphery of the reinforcing disc is adapted, through its curvilinear shaping, to impart maximum radial resiliency to the wheel; seventh, to provide a steel wheel which may be used either as a front orrear wheel 'of sheet alloy steel to be extremely simple in construction, light in weight, durable and aesthetic in ap earance.

Features 0 the invention, other than those specified, will be apparent, from the hereinafter detailed description taken in eonjunction with the accompanying drawings. p v

In the accompanying drawing :I have illustrated different practical;embodiments of theinvention, butthe constructions herein shown are to be understood as illustrative only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 is a central section 'of front vWheel construction embodying the present invention. a

Figure 2 is a face view of the parts shown in Figure 1.

Figures 3 and 4 are views similar to Figures 1 and 2, but illustrating the present invention as adapted to rear wheel construction.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 1, but illustrating certain parts removed to allow of the demounting of the tire; and,

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the fragment of the rim construction of the wheel showing the manner of removing the tire.

Referring to the drawings 1 designates the hub of the wheel. The hub 1 is of the form generally employed on wooden wheels and embodies a tubular member adapted to surround the axle and provided 'with an annular flange 2 which is apertured to allow of the passage of bolts 3 therethrough. With the bolts 3 co-operates the plate 4 be tween which plate and the flange 2 spokes of a wooden wheel are normally clamped by the screws 3.

In accordance with the present invention the wooden spokes and felly of the wooden wheel are adapted to beremoved from the hub for the purpose of allowing the pressed steel wheel to be positioned thereon, whereby steel wheels of the t pe embodied in this invention may be rea ily applied to an ear normally equipped with wooden w eels. We will now proceed to specifically describe the details of construction and mode of opto the rim. The disc 6 is dished in a .directionv away from the vdisc 5 and that portion .of the disc 5 which, is oppositethe disc 6 is complementarily dished in the opposite f directionvso as 'to impart thickness to the ,wheel at the'huh portiomthereof forthfl purpose of rendering the wheel rigid with the hub in a direction longitudinally of. the axle. The centers of both the discse and 6 are cut away to allow them to be passed over the hub and are further erforated to allow of the insertion of the olts 31:0 securethe wheel in place on the hub but spacing collars 7, preferably in the form of metallic tubular sections are positioned between the discs 5 and 6 coaxially with the respective bolts 3 to allow of proper clamping of the discs to the hub without placing the dished portions of said discs under a flexing tension.

The outer peripher of the disc 6 is secured to the disc 5 y means of bolts or rivets 8 which are passed through an annular washer 9 positioned against the face of the disc 6 as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2. The marginal portion of the disc 6 may, if desired, be brought into direct abutting relation with the complementary face of the disc 5, but it is found preferable in practice to position a felt gasket between the plates at their line of union to overcome rattling and secure a tight joint. Experimentation has shown that the best results are obtainable through the filling of the space between the discs formed between the dished portions thereof with a laminated packing consisting of alternate plies of felt and balsa wood, the latter of which is preferably chemically treated to preserve it against deterioration under the action of moisture which may work in. \Vhen this construction is employed the central ply of felt is extended to liebetween the united portions of the discs 5 and 6 and form a cushion. Of course other packing though not described might be employed without departing from the spirit of this invention but the construction described is preferred.

Aside from the cushioning of the plates the filling of the chamber therebetween with a packing as described is highly advantageous since it entirely obviates the noise usually termed drumming so prevalent in the disc wheels now in use. It has been found in practice that when a wheel is built up of two discs with a closed chamber or air space between them, the passage of the wheel along the road sets the discs into vibration so in turn vibrates the encased air with the result that there is a perceptible drumming noise not unlike the mufiied vibrations of a drumhead. This has long been an objectionable feature in disc wheels and is particularly noticeable at high speeds. When the packing as described is used,.however, this phenomenon is entirely absent and the wheel may be properly described as silent in its operations.

In disc wheels as usually constructed both of the discs which generally constitute the wheel, are of the same size and are dished for substantially the entire extent. A wheel thus constructed has pactically no radial resiliency and is moreover relatively heavy, An-

other disadvantage of a wheel of this character is that the face of the wheel has an obstructed blank surface giving an appearance of what is known in the trade as full moon effect which is unsightly because of its barren unbroken appearance, lending to the wheel a massive heavy effect which is far from aesthetic or pleasing in appearance.

In the wheel of the present invention the reinforcing disc 6 is made considerably smaller than the main disc 5 and that portion of the latter which lies beyond the periphery of the reinforcing disc has a. curvilinear radial cross section formed, during the process of manufacture, by a provision of beads circumferentially of such portion. In the drawings one of such beads 10 is shown and this head is mad with a comparatively large sweep'and is positioned immediately adjacent the outer periphery of the disc 6. The advantage of this construction is that jars transmitted from the tire to the hub are not transmitted through a relatively flat plate or disc possessing edgewise resistance, but are rather caused to be delivered through a curvilinear radial section which is adapted for radial resiliency. As a result the radial resiliency du to such curvilinear section disseminates or takes up the jars transmitted from the tire, and dissipates suchjars so that they are not delivered to the hub. I thus not only obtain a natural resiliency of the tire in the wheel of this invention but the structure of said wheel of itself is radially resilient.

' The wheel may be provided with any suitable rim which, in accordance with this in vention, is supported by the outer marginal portion of the main disc 5 in any suitable manner. For the purpose of illustration the rim is shown as embodying two annular plates 11 and 12 shaped to collectively underlie and engage with the lateral edges of the demountable rim 13 which carries the tire 14. The plate 11 has a radial web 15 which is normally channeled at 16 to fit over an annular head 17 on the main disc 5 and the plate 12 has a straight radial section 18 which overlies the opposite face of the marginal portion of the disc 5. Bolts 19 are passed through the radial portions 15 and 18 of the plates 11 and 12 and through the intermedL ate marginal portion of the main disc 5 and serve to lock the parts together in positions to hold the tire in place on the wheel. In practice a. lock nut 20 is preferably associated with each bolt 19 so that only the plate 12 is normally demounted, the plate 11 being left tightly secured to the wheel during the changing of a tire.

The wheel of the present invention as thus far described .-is intended to be used as a front wheel ofavehicle but this construction is normally. applicable to rear wheel construction and can be used such by simply adding a brake drum 21. As shown in Figure 3 the brake drum'is interposed between the main disc 5 and the plate 4 and is perforated to allow of the passage of the bolts 3 therethrough. By tightening up the bolts 3 the brake drum is simultaneously secured to the wheel and said wheel is adapted to be used as a rear wheel, merely through the use of the drum head as described. It will be manifest from the foregoing description that the disc wheel may be easily and expeditiously substituted for a wooden wheel on a standard hub, in the same simple manner as substituting one wooden wheel for another one on the same hub. In practice the discs which constitute the wheel are fabricated from alloy steel which, because of its great strength and resiliency, allows of the formation of the discs of minimum thickness and the consequent provision of a wheel of minimum weight. The use of two discs of different sizes one of which serves to support the rim from the hub through the radial resilient section described, the other of which serves to stiffen and reinforce the construction, further minimizes the weight of the wheel and results in a disc wheel having radial resiliency. The wheel has been specifically described as having but a single bead 10 but in practice two or more of these beads may be equally well employed, each additional bead manifestly increasing the radial resiliency of the wheel, as well as detracting from the blank flat appearance, so common in prior wheels.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A disk wheel embodying a hub portion, a rim portion, a main disk associated with the hub and rim portions for spacing and supporting the hub from therim, and a reenforcing disk, of smaller size than the main disk, associated with the hub, and secured adjacent its outer periphery to the :main disk, the adjacent )ortions of both the main and reenforcing (llShB being dished in opposite directions to insure transverse stability of the wheel adjacent the hub, the space between said disks forming a chamber filled with a packing.

2. A disk wheel embodying a hub portion, a rim ortion, a main disk associated with the hu and rim portions for spacing and supporting the hub from the rim, and a reenforcing disk, of smaller size than the main disk, associated with the hub, and secured adjacent its outer periphery to the main disk, the adjacent portions of both the main and reenforcing disks being dished in opposite directions to insure transverse stability of the wheel adjacent the hub, the space between said disks forming a chamber filled with a packing of alternate layers of felt and wood, one of which layers projects between the secured-together portions of the inner and outer disks and forms a gasket.

3. A disk wheel embodying a hub portion, a rim portion, a. pair of opposed dished disks associated with the hub and rim for supporting the hub from the rim and insuring lateral stability of the wheel, the

space between said disks being filled with a laminated packing, for the purpose of precluding drun'iming of the wheel. 7

4. A disk wheel embodying a hub por tion, a rim portion, a pair of opposed dished disks associated with the hub and rim for supporting the hub from the rim and 1nsuring lateral stability of the Wheel, the space between said disks being filled with a laminated packing of alternate layers of wood and felt, for the purpose of precluding drumming of the wheel.

5. A disk wheel embodying a hub portion, a rim portion, a pair of oppositely dished disks associated with the hub for supporting the hub from the rim and insuring lateral stability of the wheel, means for spacing the disks apart adjacenttthe hub, and means independent of the spacing means filling the space between the disks for the purpose of precluding drumming of the wheel.

6. A disk wheel embodying a hub portion, a rim portion, a main disk, dished at its center, spacing and supporting the hub from the rim portion, a reenforcing disk, of smaller size than the main disk and dished complementarily to the main disk, said remforcing disk being associated with the hub and secured to the main disk near the outer periphery of the reenforcing disk, whereby the rim is dependent for support, for a portion of the radius of the wheel, entirely on the main disk, the main disk, at that portion of the Wheel, having a curvilinear radial cross section adapted to impart radial resiliency to the wheel.

7. A disk wheel embodying a hub portion, a rim portion, a main disk secured to the rim portion and to the hub and dished at its center, and a reenforcing disk secured at its inner periphery to the hub, and at its outer periphery to the main disk, said reenforcing disk being'dished complementarily a main disc associated with the hub and rim for s acing and supporting the hub from the rim, and a reinforcing disc of smaller size than the main disc associatedwith the hub in front of the main disc, the adjacent portions of both the main and reinforcing discs being dished or bowed outwardly with respect to one another to insure transverse stability of the wheel adjacent the hub.

9. A disc wheel embodying a hub provided with fixed and movable flanges, a rim, a main disc portion secured to the hub and a second disc portion of smaller diameter than the first disc portion secured to the hub in front of the main disc with the outer margin. of the smaller disc portion bearing against the front face of the larger disc portion, and said disc portions being spaced apart directly adjacent the hub to insure transverse stability of the wheel adjacent the hub, and hub bolts passing through the hub flanges and through the disc portions for clamping thedisc portions between the hub flanges, whereby said disc portions are secured to the hub.

-10. A disc wheel embodyin a hub provided with fixed and movab e flanges, a fixed rim, a main disc for spacing the hub from said rim, and a reinforcing disc of smaller diameter than the main disc, said reinforcing disc having its center in spaced relation to the center of the main disc and its outer margin bearing against the main disc to insure lateral stability of the wheel adjacent the hub, and hub bolts for drawing the removable flange to the hub in the direction of the fixed flange thereof to tightly clamp both discs between said flanges, in combination with a removable tirecarrying rim, and a retaining member cooperating with the fixed rim to support the removable rim and having a lateral bearing on the main disc radially outward from the reinforcin disc.

11. n a wheel of the type described, the combination with a hub, of a body mounted on said hub, a tire rim mounted on said body, and means for damping vibration in said body.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

DAVID H. BELLAMORE. 

